compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

Iris: Student-built robot rover on track to explore the Moon
William “Red” Whittaker may not be a household name, but he should be. The robotics professor has been leading the development of a tiny wheeled robot called Iris, which could become the first uncrewed rover sent by the US to explore the Moon…more

Astronomers Find a New Asteroid Sharing Earth’s Orbit Astronomers have discovered a captive asteroid shadowing Earth in its orbit. The asteroid, known as 2020 XL5, is only the second of its type ever seen, shepherded by Earth’s gravity into an orbit that is locked in synchrony with our planet’s…more

The launch of NASA’s massive SLS moon rocket is delayed again. The much-anticipated rollout of NASA’s moon rocket and capsule to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a fueling test will be delayed for another few weeks, the space agency said Wednesday. But after years of setbacks and cost overruns…more

Astronomers stand up to satellite mega-constellations Astronomy is finally putting up a co-ordinated front to defend its interests as thousands of satellites are placed in the sky. Huge networks of spacecraft are being launched that are making it harder to get a clear view of the cosmos…more

The First Quadruple Asteroid: Astronomers Spot a Space Rock With 3 Moons Astronomers had already spotted two other rocks orbiting the asteroid known as 130 Elektra, and think more quadruple systems are out there. We already knew the asteroid 130 Elektra was special. Astronomers previously discovered it had two moons, making it a rare triple asteroid system…more

Solar Storm Destroys 40 New SpaceX Satellites in Orbit The geomagnetic incident resulted in the Starlink transmitters drifting back into Earth’s atmosphere, where they will burn up, potentially costing the company about $100 million. Over the past three years, SpaceX has deployed thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit as part of its business to beam high-speed internet service from space…more

James Webb telescope begins to focus its ‘big eye’ Astronomers intend to use the $10bn observatory and its remarkable 6.5m-wide primary mirror to capture events that occurred just a couple of hundred million years after the Big Bang. They want to see the very first stars to light up the Universe…more

Dark sky: Could Wales soon be home to four zones? A swathe of the north-east Wales uplands could soon be recognised as a hotspot for gazing at the stars. The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) plans to submit a bid for global recognition as a dark sky zone…more

Beneath a Blanket of Stars It isn’t as easy as it once was to find a dazzling night sky. In search of the Milky Way, our writer headed to Utah, which has the densest concentration of designated Dark Sky places in the world. Roughly 99 percent of the people living in the United States and Europe see only a dim approximation of stars in the night sky, nothing close to the bright firmament…more